Exploring a mystery of the universeThe Facility for Laboratory Reconnection Experiments (FLARE) is a one-of-a-kind device designed to probe the physics behind magnetic reconnection, one of the most fundamental, yet still not fully understood, phenomena in the universe. Offering capabilities found nowhere else in the world, FLARE will help scientists study when magnetic field lines approach each other, snap apart and then reattach in new configurations. This research will expand our understanding of solar flares, the aurora borealis, atmospheric disturbances that could damage satellites and power grids, and improve our understanding of fusion plasma behavior. Objective FLARE’s primary research goal is testing the hypothesis that in large plasmas, like those in the solar corona, magnetic reconnection happens at multiple locations known as X-lines. Confirming this hypothesis would fill in gaps in plasma physics knowledge and provide a more complete picture of fundamental astrophysical processes. It is the first machine in the world to allow experiments probing magnetic reconnection under conditions that more closely match those in outer space.FLARE currently receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and Princeton University. FLARE in its installation site at PPPL (Photo by Michael Livingston.) Powerful collaborations in plasma physics FLARE was originally constructed at Princeton University’s main campus and funded by the National Science Foundation, Princeton University, and others. FLARE has been moved to PPPL and its power system and infrastructure are being upgraded with support from the DOE and Princeton University. After the current upgrade, FLARE will be operated as a DOE collaborative research facility. The FLARE device was relocated to PPPL in 2019 and installed in the test cell in 2020. It is being significantly upgraded in both power and diagnostics by a team of scientists, engineers and technicians onsite at PPPL. Scientists can submit proposals to conduct experiments and be involved in long-term collaborations for a variety of projects, including designing and installing custom diagnostics to allow new observations and discover new physics. Meet the Team Hantao Ji Principal Investigator of the FLARE project; Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University; Distinguished Research Fellow, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Jongsoo Yoo Research Physicist and Deputy Head of Discovery Plasma Science Masaaki Yamada Distinguished Research Fellow; Principal Research Physicist Peiyun Shi Staff Research Physicist Sayak Bose Staff Research Physicist Collaborate with us Are you interested in collaborating with the FLARE team? Contact us for more information about how to submit proposals. Contact Our Area of Focus Magnetic Reconnection This process releases enormous amounts of energy from magnetic fields, powering large eruptions of plasma on the sun known as solar flares and causing disruptions in fusion devices known as tokamaks. Solar eruptions produce intense winds of charged particles that can damage communications systems, GPS networks and electrical grids, leading to blackouts and internet outages that take months to repair. Understanding the mechanisms behind these eruptions could help us minimize communications network damage against solar outbursts and enhance the stability of tokamak operations. “FLARE is the first device to experimentally explore whether magnetic reconnection can have multiple X-points, potentially widening our basic knowledge about phenomena happening throughout the universe.” – Jongsoo Yoo, Deputy Head of Discovery Plasma Science Fast Facts FLARE is a collaborative research facility that allows long-term research partnerships with both institutions and individual scientists.FLARE’s main objective is to study magnetic reconnection in large plasmas involving multiple X lines, the regions where neighboring magnetic field lines approach each other. Reconnection occurs at these points.FLARE uses more than six million joules of energy, hundreds of times more energy than PPPL’s Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX), its predecessor, could produce.The machine measures approximately nine feet in diameter and almost 12 feet in length.Its guide magnetic field — which affects the speed of reconnection and the plasma’s temperature, among other properties — has a strength of up to .5 tesla. The Facility for Laboratory Reconnection Experiments (FLARE) at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. (Photo credit: Michael Livingston / PPPL Office of Communications) Related links Discovery Plasma Science (DPS) Laboratory Astrophysics Recent News Jongsoo Yoo pursues his passion as deputy head of Discovery Plasma Science July 24, 2023 A roadmap for deepening understanding of a puzzling universal process April 22, 2022 New insight into blobs improves understanding of a universal process Feb. 4, 2022
